Features

Grants to strengthen community-engaged partnerships

Mar 22 2018

Two ongoing partnerships between Puget Sound area school districts and University of Washington College of Education researchers are being extended with support from two new grants from the Spencer Foundation.

UW College of Education ranked #9 in nation

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the University of Washington College of Education No. 9 among the nation's best education schools in its annual graduate school ratings, released March 20.

UW College of Education ranked No. 3 among education schools at public institutions in the U.S. in the 2019 edition of the U.S. News ratings. This is the fifth consecutive year that UW has been ranked third or higher among public institutions by U.S. News.

Positioning students as knowledge builders

Mar 15 2018

As a high school student in South Korea, University of Washington College of Education PhD student Soo-Yean Shim was already imagining alternative approaches to make science classes engaging for all students.

Her inspiration came during a transformative experience in which she joined a genetics research team at a local university. In helping the team collect data, Shim found herself making sense of the world using resources and experimental data that she had gathered herself.

New book aims to spread ambitious science teaching

Mar 13 2018

All students are capable of engaging deeply in scientific investigation and thinking—if conditions in the classroom are right. In the new book “Ambitious Science Teaching,” University of Washington College of Education researchers outline a powerful framework for science teaching that is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds.

A pathway to discovery

Mar 8 2018

A few weeks into her new job training teen volunteers at Pacific Science Center how to take up issues of equity and social justice in their work, Pilar Letrondo noticed something concerning mid-way through a session she was leading on identity.

"All the white kids sat on one side of the table and all of the non-white kids sat on the other," she said. "[I] realized that I needed to address the seating situation.”

It was a striking example of how physical spaces can impact teaching and learning, and even more so, the challenge of overcoming bias in educational spaces.

Taking on bias in special education

As a novice teacher in a Denver elementary school, Nathan Hoston recalls his growing discomfort with how students were being referred to special education services.

“The first year," Hoston said, "the system seemed biased and subjective in a way that made me uncomfortable."

Hoston, who at the time was teaching kindergarten through second grade students with high-incidence disabilities, saw black boys disproportionately represented in special education services at his school and surrounding schools.

Connecting grandparents and grandchildren with special needs

Feb 24 2018

A new study being conducted at the University of Washington's Haring Center for Research and Training in Inclusive Education is examining the relationships between children with special needs and their grandparents—and how to enhance those relations. Xueyan Yang, a doctoral student is special education at the UW College of Education, is using photographs as a social aid to strength the bonds between generations.

Teaching connection to one another—and the world

Feb 15 2018

As a third-grade teacher, Kacy Lebby (MIT ‘15) is bringing the outdoors into her classroom by teaching all subjects, not just science, from an environmental perspective.

Yet growing up, Lebby never saw herself becoming a teacher. As a hands-on learner, she always felt more comfortable outdoors than in a classroom. This trait led her to become an outdoor educator, where she taught subjects such as recreation and backpacking to middle and high school students.

Early learning focus of EDU Talks on March 28

Feb 7 2018

What will it take to ensure every child in Washington gets a strong start in life? On March 28, nine early learning researchers and practitioners will discuss how the state can improve early childhood education and care for all during EDU Talks: Raising Washington, presented by the University of Washington College of Education.